ANNOUNCE: slrn 0.9.4.2 newsreader released
John E. Davis
Version 0.9.4.2 of the slrn news reader is available. As usual it is
available from:
ftp://space.mit.edu/pub/davis/slrn.
ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de:/pub/unix/misc/slang
ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/unix/news/slrn/
ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/lang/slang/
This version should be of interest to those interested in
customization of slrn via the macro language. Several new intrinsics
have been added to the macro language and new hooks are available. The
new hooks make it possible to run articles to be posted through
filters. For example, slrn/macros/ispell.sl illustrates an ispell
filter. For more information, see the list of changes appended below.
But first, here is some basic information about slrn:
slrn is a news reader that is capable of reading from a remote server
via NNTP or a local spool. It even comes with a companion program
called `slrnpull' that permits one to read offline without the need
for additional programs such as CNEWS or INN. More information as
well as .gif images of slrn may be found on
http://space.mit.edu/%7Edavis/slrn.html
Here is a brief list of features:
* Runs under Unix, VMS, and OS/2
* Interface to HTML browser (lynx, netscape,...)
* True referenced-based threading
* Draws a colored thread tree using line drawing characters
* Sophisticated score (Kill) file support with scores that
can be set to expire
* Multiple server support
* Grouplens support
* Multiple windows
- Header summary window showing threads
- Article window
* Very Customizable
- Keybindings
- Extension language for writing sophisticated macros
- Colors
For example, the default colors, say, using a color xterm such as
rxvt, shows the top status bar in blue on white, the author's name
in the header summary window as magenta on white, the thread tree
as red lines connecting subject titles, the window status lines
appear as yellow on blue, the article headers in the article window
are cyan on white, the quoted text appears as red on white, and
the body of the article appears as blue on white.
- Monochrome attributes
On non-color terminals, monochrome attributes may be specified for
subject titles, headers, status lines, etc.
- Server -> newsrc mappings
* Built-in support for MIME
* Smart screen updating
* Customizable online help
* Automatic reconnect if server drops connection
* Fast on slow modem connections. It does not read the whole active file
like many other news readers. Many people have concluded that
slrn is the fastest available news reader.
* Xterm mouse support with click-able buttons
* Easy decoding of base64 and uuencoded of articles
Changes since 0.9.4.1
1. Add charset tables from Mark Nowiasz <buck...@blackbox.free.de>.
I also changed `slrn --version' to show the supported character sets.
2. New customizable color objects:
box --- This objects represents the are of the screen when a box
pops up.
frame - The border of the box
selection
The currently selected text in the selection box
3. New hooks for macro customization
reply_hook
forward_hook
followup_hook (see macros/xcomment.sl for example)
post_hook
post_filter_hook
The post_filter_hook allows you to run the article to be posted
through something such as ispell, a shell script, etc... The file
to be posted is passed as a parameter to this hook. See
macros/ispell.sl for an example.
4. New intrinsic macro functions:
get_response
set_color
select_list_box
get_grouplens_score
set_input_chars
5. OS/2 patches from Bjoern Frantzen for OS/2 FAT file systems.
6. Support for X-Mail-Copies-To added.
7. cc_followup_string now expands %n, etc...
--
John E. Davis Center for Space Research/AXAF Science Center
617-258-8119 MIT 37-662c, Cambridge, MA 02139
http://space.mit.edu/~davis